Yo! So how's Brooklyn-born Rocky LaPorte--he of the dese, dem and dose delivery--doin' down in Texas, performing at a club in Dallas? "Down here they sometimes giggle before I even get to the jokes," he answered by phone last week in an accent as thick as mozzarella. "I start slammin' them about the way they talk and they're like, 'Who's this guy to talk?' "I'm an alien to these guys," said LaPorte, who headlines a show tonight at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa. "I'm like E.

Stand-up comic Rocky LaPorte pulled his gray Grand Prix up to the curb in front of John Wayne Airport, hopped out and began unloading his luggage. He had to catch an early morning flight to Cleveland. After wrapping his arms around his wife, Sheila, who looked as though she might cry, LaPorte embraced their daughters, 9-year-old Toni and 7-year-old Racheal, their faces pressed against his belly. "I'll call you guys tonight, OK? . . . I'll bring you something special, OK?"

Meet Rocky LaPorte, the palooka next door. With his heavy Chicago-meets-Brooklyn accent and jeans-jacket attire, LaPorte--a comedian who will stop in at the Irvine Improv for one show tonight--comes across on stage as a rough-edged but sweet-natured street tough, thumbs hooked in his pants pockets as he follows his disarming blue-collar tales with a shrug of his shoulders. "I'm like somebody that somebody always knows," he says.

Go ahead, Rocky, raise your hands over your head and take a victory lap around the ring. You've earned it. A couple of years ago, Rocky LaPorte was little more than a one-trick pony, relying heavily on his blue-collar roots and connecting mainly with blue-collar audiences. Too many of his punch lines were basic and predictable. On Tuesday night at the Irvine Improv, however, the Brooklyn-born comic showed in his 45-minute set that he has moved to the next level.

Stand-up comic Rocky LaPorte pulled his gray Grand Prix up to the curb in front of John Wayne Airport, hopped out and began unloading his luggage. He had to catch an early morning flight to Cleveland. After wrapping his arms around his wife, Sheila, who looked as though she might cry, LaPorte embraced their daughters, 9-year-old Toni and 7-year-old Racheal, their faces pressed against his belly. "I'll call you guys tonight, OK? . . . I'll bring you something special, OK?"

Go ahead, Rocky, raise your hands over your head and take a victory lap around the ring. You've earned it. A couple of years ago, Rocky LaPorte was little more than a one-trick pony, relying heavily on his blue-collar roots and connecting mainly with blue-collar audiences. Too many of his punch lines were basic and predictable. On Tuesday night at the Irvine Improv, however, the Brooklyn-born comic showed in his 45-minute set that he has moved to the next level.

COSTA MESA 5:30pm Benefit You can sample some of Orange County's finest cuisine and enjoy some fine wine at Summer Solstice 2000: A Festival of Food and Wine. More than 30 restaurants, including Bangkok Four and Troquet, will offer samples from their menus. All proceeds--from admission, drawings and private contributions--will benefit the Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County and Someone Cares Soup Kitchen in Costa Mesa.

If KLOS-FM disc jockey Geno Michellini ever had any doubts about the popularity of the "Five O'Clock Funnies" segment of his afternoon drive-time show, they were dispelled in April when the rock album-oriented station was feeling the heat of competition from two other stations that had adopted the same music format. "Normally when you have a lot of competition, you weather the storm by tightening up and playing it safe," Michellini said in a phone interview last week.

Yo! So how's Brooklyn-born Rocky LaPorte--he of the dese, dem and dose delivery--doin' down in Texas, performing at a club in Dallas? "Down here they sometimes giggle before I even get to the jokes," he answered by phone last week in an accent as thick as mozzarella. "I start slammin' them about the way they talk and they're like, 'Who's this guy to talk?' "I'm an alien to these guys," said LaPorte, who headlines a show tonight at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa. "I'm like E.

Meet Rocky LaPorte, the palooka next door. With his heavy Chicago-meets-Brooklyn accent and jeans-jacket attire, LaPorte--a comedian who will stop in at the Irvine Improv for one show tonight--comes across on stage as a rough-edged but sweet-natured street tough, thumbs hooked in his pants pockets as he follows his disarming blue-collar tales with a shrug of his shoulders. "I'm like somebody that somebody always knows," he says.